WKACC Newsletter August 09

My Business Advocate

Building Better Communities by Building Better Businesses

August 2009 Volume 29, Issue 8

In This Issue

Friday, August 28

th

1 pm to 9 pm andSaturday, August 29

th

9 am to 9 pm

See Page 14 for aschedule of events.

Day of Event

Volunteers Needed!

Contact 531-5990 for details.

Wyoming 50th Anniversary 1Metro Cruise

®



1Speed Networking 1Opinion by John 2Santa Parade 3 & 4ChamberPartners 5Hot Deals 53rd Fridays! 8Business Expo 8Chamber Ambassadors 9Member 2 Member Discounts 10Dues Payment Plan 10Member 2 Member News 11Metro Guide 12Member Milestones 13Metro Cruise Schedule 14Celendars on Pages 6 & 7Log on to www.southkent.orgfor details.

CityofWyoming50thAnniversaryCelebration!

A four day celebration, August26th-29th, will feature family-friendly fun events such as a bed

race, reworks, a parade down

Division Avenue, and a special"Kid's Day" to just list a few. Thecelebration is open to all of WestMichigan with many of the eventsfree of charge.

BillEngvallPerformsonMetroCruise

®

Friday!

Bill Engvall will bring his down-homestyle of humor to Wyoming for a specialperformance on Friday, August 28 at 7pm at

Resurrection Life Church

. Ticketsavailable at www.startickets.com.

BarbecueCook-OffatCityHallonMetroCruise

®

Saturday

August 29th from 7 am until 3 pm, join the City of Wyoming for award winning barbecue in the Wyoming CityHall Parking Lot.Come and enjoy some of the best BBQthis side of Memphis as more than15 professional and amateur teamscompete for top honors. Take time to enjoy the live blues musicand festival atmosphere that only aBBQ cook-off can supply. With musicfeatured by

The Truckstop Cobras

this free event promises to be fun foranyone who loves music, great BBQand fun with friends and neighbors.

No-CostMulti-ChamberSpeedNetworking

Skipp Knapp, from

EdwardJones Investments

and Mark Schabacker, from

Cartridge Depot

got six minutes to exchange info and business cards. Just two of the 70+ businesses from 3 area Chambers of Commerce that attended the April 2009 event. Expanded Networking Sessions will allow even more contact time at the August 14

th

event.

Friday,August14th,20097:30amto10amHudsonvilleCityHallCommunityRoom3275CentralBlvdinHudsonville616-531-5990toregister

For complete information alongwith updates on all of the eventscheck out the City of Wyoming's

Ofcial 50th Anniversary web siteat www.wyoming50.com.

5thAnnual28thStreetMetroCruise®

YOUR CHAMBER MANAGEMENT

2009 Board of Directors

*indicates Executive Committee Member

*John Crawford - President & CEO*Todd Duncan - Consumers Energy, Board Chair*Steve Marshall- MAS Advisory Service, Chair, Fin. & Budget*Norine Mulvihill - Sr. V. Chair - American DiabetesAssociation*Kathey Batey - Priority Health/Spirited Presentations*Brent Holland - Chameleon Ltd.*Skip Knapp - EdwardJones Investments*Tom Kruisenga - The Kruisenga Agency, Past Chair*Brent Vander Kolk - Vander Kolk & Vander Kolk PLC,Legal Counsel

Community Relations Division (Blue)

*Kathey Batey - Vice Chair Tommy Brann - Brann’s Steakhouse & GrilleDan Van Dyke - PCO Associates, LLC*Brent Vander Kolk - Vander Kolk & Vander Kolk,.PLCLillian VanderVeen - Lenger Travel Services

Member Relations Division (Red)

*Brent Holland - Vice ChairRichard Chrisman - Hungerford, Aldrin, Nichols & CarterDanna Mathiesen - Mercantile Bank John Schwartz - AT&T

Membership Development Division (Gold)

*Skip Knapp - Vice ChairBob O'Callaghan - Citadel BroadcastingRob Wells - VantagePointe Financial Group

Financial Development Division (Green)

*Norine Mulvihill - Sr. Vice ChairBetsy Artz - Loeks Theaters (Celebration Cinema) Joel Iakiri - Huntington Bank

David Szidik - Proforma Innite Marketing

Matt Uhl - National City

Ex-Ofcio

Carol Sheets - City of Wyoming, MayorRichard Root - City of Kentwood, MayorCurtis Holt - City of Wyoming, ManagerBill Doren - Chamber Foundation Chair

My Business Advocate

,

Building Better Communities by Building Better Businesses

OpinionbyJohn

August 2009By John J. Crawford, Jr.President & CEO

The5thAnnual28thStreetMetroCruise

®

isAugust28&29

Plan to be there and support the businesses on 28th Street!We’re expecting about 200,000 or more of our closest friendsto be there with more than 12,000 Special Interest cars – it’sreally a sight to behold!

Volunteer!It’saLotofFun!

If you’re available in blocks of four hours, be a part of theEvent Crew! Check out this newsletter and the web site at www.metrocruise.org or call the Chamber at 616.531.5990 formore details.We have super-dedicated Members that make up theMetro Cruise® Exec Committee this year.

Joel Iakiri from

Huntington Bank

stepped up this year and serves as theBoard Member Director-Coach for the project. Superb job!

Dan Van Dyke

was planning to Chair the event this year,but health issues changed his plans. Dan just re-joined theCommittee (Welcome Back, Dan!!), but in the meantime, oneof our Chamber heroes this year,

Rick Sturim of Steve’s

Antique Auto Repair

stepped in and picked up the leadership

ag and has done a beautiful job as Chairman! (THANKS,

Rick!)Other Members include

Charlie Steen

who is heading up CarOwner Relations,

Erin Bowen

, our Intern from Lenger Travel& GVSU who is heading up Visitor Relations,

Denise Hughesfrom eTool Developers

(Public Relations) and

Gregg Howard

who is leading the Logistics, Site Mgmt and Public Safetyefforts. The great folks from

Citadel Broadcasting

are alsodoing a great job above and beyond being the Radio MediaSponsor this year!

$10/HourMinimumWageProposedforMichiganLastWeek

The Government Matters Committee

, chaired by

DaveVan Houten of HWC Corp

, urges you to participate on theCommittee! Stop by the Chamber the FIRST Monday at Noonand plug in! There is a veritable

tsunami

of tax and regulation changesheaded toward your business! Some may help, some may not.High on the list are a proposed $10 Minimum Wage introducedin the Michigan House last week and the nationalization of many industries in this country. Right now, we need you tocontact our Representatives Ehlers & Hoekstra and SenatorsLevin & Stabenow and tell them to STOP the take over of the nation’s health care system. The system has issues, butnationalization is not the solution!Plug in today! We need your input and help to make ourvoices heard.At least, that’s my Opinion by John!

2008 SANTA PARADE MEMORIES

SantaisComing!

We expect hundreds of families toline S. Division Avenue between34

th

and 43

rd

Streets beginningat 10 am on Saturday, December5, 2009 when WKACC Members welcome Santa with a

BIG

parade.Members of the Wyoming KentwoodArea Chamber of Commerce

are invited to join not-for-prot

organizations, local churchesand schools and not-yet-memberbusinesses in welcoming Santa tohelp kick off the 2009 ChristmasShopping season and to begin thecelebration of one of our most lovedholidays. To be a part of this celebration,contact janine@southkent.orgor call 616-531-5990 today.Sponsorships are available for everybusiness budget.

EntriesLimitedOnlyByImagination-SponsorshipsAvailable

Head Elf - Dave VanHouten from

Home Works Corporation and Window World

chaired the 2008 committee.

Some of the more than 50 entries inthe

2008 Santa Parade

were from(left upper)

Steelcase, The Rapid,

(center top)

Lake Michigan CreditUnion, Express Employment

Professionals, Celebration Cinema,

Cap'n Jack,